Sunday October 24th 2021
Tensions with the west
China and Russia expand military cooperation
In northern Japan, China and Russia are demonstrating a new level of military cooperation. Officially, the patrol is not directed against other states. But it takes place against the background of a dramatically deteriorated relationship between the two powers and the West.
With the first joint patrols with Russia in the western Pacific, China wants to expand the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in the new era. This was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Defense. The aim of the exercises is to improve common skills and to jointly maintain international and strategic stability, according to the ministry’s website. The exercises are part of the annual cooperation between the two nations and are not directed against third parties.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that the group of Russian and Chinese warships had crossed Tsugaru Strait together for the first time. The tasks of the joint patrol included demonstrating the Russian and Chinese state flags, maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and monitoring the maritime economic activities of the two countries, it said.
The strait between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan is considered to be international waters. Japan is watching the two countries’ naval exercises. Russia and China held joint exercises in the Sea of Japan at the beginning of October. Both countries have deepened their diplomatic and military relations in recent years, while their relations with the West have recently deteriorated significantly.
USA ready to defend Taiwan
The relationship between Russia and NATO is more tense than it has been since the Cold War. The NATO defense ministers agreed on a new master plan to deter Russia on Thursday. The new NATO strategy aims to be prepared for simultaneous attacks by Russia in the Baltic States and the Black Sea region. A few days earlier, Russia cut its formal relations with NATO after expelling eight employees from its representation at the alliance on charges of espionage.
Relations between the US and China have been extremely strained for years. The Biden government sees the economically and militarily emerging China as the greatest geopolitical challenge of the 21st century. The two largest economies in the world are embroiled in a trade dispute, among other things.
Most recently, the US also sharply criticized the repeated intrusion of Chinese fighter planes into the defensive airspace of Taiwan. President Joe Biden recently publicly affirmed that the US is ready to defend Taiwan militarily against the People’s Republic of China. Beijing, in turn, responded with criticism of a nuclear submarine deal between the United States, Britain and Australia in response to China’s rearmament and ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.